Does Joe die in Fool Me Once?
NetflixThe hot new Netflix series Fool Me Once is filled with twists and turns, with the very first episode posing the question: is Maya’s husband Joe really dead? Here’s what you need to know.
Fool Me Once is the latest addition to Netflix’s Harlan Coben Collection, following on from other small screen hits based on the author’s novels, including The Stranger, Stay Close, Innocent, Hold Tight, The Woods, and Gone For Good.
As per the official synopsis: “Fool Me Once follows Maya Stern who is trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe. But when Maya installs a nanny-cam to keep an eye on her young daughter, she is shocked to see a man she recognises in her house. Her husband, who she thought was dead…”
Given the nature of Coben’s page-turners, Fool Me Once is filled with many shocking twists and turns throughout its eight-episode run. If you are interested in the fate of Joe, here’s what you need to know about if the character dies. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Does Joe die in Fool Me Once?
Yes, Joe Burkett (Richard Armitage) does die in Fool Me Once, having been shot by none other than his wife Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan).
Up until the latter episodes, Maya was at the forefront of the investigation into Joe’s death, seemingly wanting to find out who pulled the trigger. When she discovers hidden cam footage of him hugging their daughter after he was killed, she embarks on a mission to uncover the truth.
However, in the penultimate episode, Shane (Emmett J. Scanlan) questions Maya about the fact that the same gun was used to kill both Joe and her sister Claire (Natalie Anderson). Shockingly, Maya admits that she was the one who shot Joe.
We learn more in the finale, as it’s revealed that Maya began to suspect Joe was the one who murdered her sister. Thanks to Shane, she discovers that the bullet that killed Claire came from the handgun only she and Joe had access to.
As for the motive, Joe wanted Claire dead after discovering that she had been leaking secret information to whistleblower Corey (Laurie Kynaston) about his family’s pharmaceutical company in a bid to prevent him from leaking the audio of a military incident that led to Maya losing her job.
When Joe found out what Claire had been doing, he murdered her and made it look like a burglary. But this wasn’t the first person he killed after they threatened to expose him – it’s later revealed that Joe pushed his brother Andrew overboard a yacht back in 1996 after he wanted to speak out about their role in the death of schoolfriend Theo Mora.
Joe also killed the yacht’s captain, Tommy Dark, who was being bribed by the Burketts. As is discovered by Corey, this isn’t the family’s only secret – they were also putting dangerous drugs on the market and falsifying big pharma data from their company in order to make a profit.
In a flashback, after Maya discovers the truth about her sister, she switches the handgun for a dud one and asks Joe to meet her in the park, away from the rest of the family. She confronts him and calls him a killer – and we all know how Joe felt about being exposed.
He reaches for his gun and pulls the trigger, unaware that his weapon is deactivated. Knowing he would happily kill her and that there’s no way to prove he murdered Claire, Maya shoots him three times in the chest.
NetflixAs for how he appeared on the secret cam footage, it’s revealed that the nanny and her partner, Izabelle and Luka, had been paid by Joe’s mother Judith Burkett (Joanna Lumley) to manipulate the footage and create a deepfake using footage from Joe and Maya’s wedding. The reason being that Judith, who was suspicious of Maya, wanted to cause her to unravel and confess to the murder.
The Burkett family of course get their comeuppance, but at the cost of Maya’s life. When she confronts them, they shoot her dead, unaware that she’s secretly live-streaming the events to the world. So no doubt they’ll all be going to jail for a very long time.
Fool Me Once is available to stream on Netflix now, and you can read more about the series below:
